#DBS100: Dragon Ball Super’s 10 Greatest Moments

Having first appeared on Japanese screens on the 5th of July, 2015, Dragon Ball Super now nears its landmark 100th episode. With the show not having season breaks (eat your heart out Game of Thrones fans!), there has been a brand new episode nearly every Sunday for the past two years. In that time period, the popular anime has given us many great moments where our jaws just couldn’t help but hit the floor.

With so much to choose from, here is our best attempt at making up a Top 10:

Bear in mind, if you are only watching the English dub, you will no doubt be quite far behind, so a lot of these moments will be spoilerish to you – you have been warned!

10. Vegeta & Goku Black’s Rematch

Goku Black was a pretty class villain. Immensely powerful, he sent Goku, Vegeta and Future Trunks packing with their Saiyan tails between their legs on more than one occasion. For a while, it looked as though he would never get his richly earned comeuppance. Hence why it was so satisfying when Vegeta, after some seriously intense training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, knocked seven shades of Super Saiyan Rosae out of his smug face and literally pummeled him into the ground in Episode 63.

Everything about this fight sequence, from the colour palette to the music, just screamed “EPIC!“. Outside of the unbridled beat down itself, this is also a very important character-building scene in that Vegeta openly admits that his fierce rival, Kakarot (AKA Goku), possesses a true warrior’s spirit and that Goku Black is little more than a trashy copy. After all, who doesn’t enjoy having a good old-fashioned epiphany whilst grinding an enemy down into dust?

9. The Destruction of Universe 9

In the run up to Dragon Ball Super’s 100th episode, the highly anticipated Tournament of Power kicked off, pitting the strongest warriors of several universes against each other in a massive Battle Royale-style brawl. The stipulations of said tournament dictate that should any universe have all of its combatants eliminated then their entire universe, and everyone from it, would be annihilated immediately.

Whist the threat of total destruction always loomed over those partaking in the Tournament of Power, it wasn’t until the last of the Universe 9 warriors fell from the fighting stage that the reality of the situation truly and terribly hit home. While it was a sobering experience to see an entire universe and all of its people snuffed out in an instant by the seemingly benign and childlike Zeno-sama (the ‘King of Everything’), what really chilled the bones was the strange smirk that stretched across the face of Universe 9’s Guardian Angel as he alone was permitted to live as all other perished. Suffice to say, the destruction of Universe 9 will most definitely bring about further repercussions, of which we, the viewers, do not fully understand yet.

8. Tagoma’s New Body of Steel

One of the main criticisms directed at the early episodes of Dragon Ball Super was that it felt like a padded out version of the previously released Dragon Ball Z movies Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’, with precious little of value added to the narrative. A big change which was brought into the Super version of events for the latter saga was the expanded take on Tagoma as a character. Where in the Resurrection ‘F’ movie he was little more than a jobber fed to Frieza upon his return from the dead, here Frieza takes him on as a disciple and trains him (Frieza’s idea of ‘training’ is to beat his sparring partner to within an inch of his life every day, throw him in the healing machine and then start again in the morning) up to the point where he has a ‘body of steel’ and can block punches with his face.

As a story, the Resurrection ‘F’ movie lacked good sub-villains, so Tagoma’s expanded arc is welcome here as he gives the Z Fighters something of a challenge before they face off against the final boss (like how a tasty dinner is made even better when accompanied by a nice appetiser). His character is wonderfully psychotic and mean-spirited to boot, cackling maniacally as he goes about his wicked ways – a worthy right hand man for a villain as dastardly as Frieza if ever there was one.

7. The Return of Captain Ginyu

Another big surprise in Dragon Ball Super‘s Resurrection ‘F’ arc was the return of a classic DBZ character in the form of Captain Ginyu, or rather, not in the form of Captain Ginyu… For you see, when we last saw Ginyu in DBZ, he was tricked into botching up his trademark body swapping technique and inadvertently switched bodies with a Namekian frog, never to appear in DBZ as a credible villain again.

Fast forward to Dragon Ball Super, and a strange little frog creature can be seen making small cameos throughout the series. Keen eyed fans with good memories recognised this as the Ginyu frog. As the series progressed, the clues became less and less subtle until, in Episode 22, the Ginyu frog finally made his move, tricked Tagoma into uttering the ‘magic words’ and stole his body (it was a bad day at the office for Tagoma all around, seeing as he had just been headbutted in what we can only assume were his off-purple alien cahonies), much to the delight of old school fans who struck a series of elaborate poses in order to celebrate the return of the Ginyu Goons.

6. Vegito Blue Vs Fused Zamasu

Ever since audiences got their first glimpse of Super Saiyan Blue, Dragon Ball fans started speculating as to what it would be like to see Vegito (the fused form of Vegeta and Goku) take on this amazing new form. But what kind of enemy could possibly stand up to such a ridiculously powerful form? As it turns out, the answer is an immortal God who has managed to fuse with himself (now THAT is narcissism!).

Episode 66’s clash between Vegito Blue and the Fused Zamasu remains to this day one of the most visually pleasing Dragon Ball battles of all time, with slick animation which really gives the impression that these two hyper-beings are well and truly fighting at a level far beyond anything we have encountered before. While Vegito Blue only lasted about 5 minutes in terms of actual screen time, there can be no denying that he passed like a ship in the night.

5. Introducing Hit, The Legendary Assassin

In Dragon Ball Super‘s ‘Universe 6’ arc, we were introduced to the enigmatic Hit. From the word go, there was clearly something otherworldly about this guy as he nonchalantly oozed menace, utterly confident in his superior battle prowess, but devoid of the hubris which typically overcomes Dragon Ball characters whenever they get a power boost. Hit was obviously powerful, having dispatched of Frost quickly and efficiently, but it wasn’t until Episode 38 when we got to see the true extent of just how badass the legendary assassin truly is.

Shockingly, Hit managed to manhandle Vegeta, who was fighting at Super Saiyan Blue level, seemingly without having to put too much effort into it. He then went on to best Goku, before walking away from the tournament on his own terms. Forever the mystery, Dragon Ball fans speculate that there must be something more to Hit as a character than him simply being a guy who murders people in exchange for money. Where did he come from? Why is he so powerful? Where did he learn all of his amazing techniques? What are his true motives? Why is he so obsessed with putting his hands in his pockets? With all eyes on Jiren and Goku in the Tournament of Power, don’t be surprised if Hit ends up being the real one to watch.

4. Trunks’ Super Saiyan Rage Transformation

Ever since Goku debuted the classic blonde-haired Super Saiyan form when battling Frieza on planet Namek in DBZ, there have been all sorts of variations of the Super Saiyan transformation, from the steroid-tastic Ultra / Ascendant Saiyan to the copiously haired Super Saiyan 3. While some of these forms have proven to be more popular than others, they always seem to take audiences by surprise. The thoroughly epic emergence of Trunks’ new form at the end of DBS Episode 61 was no different in this regard, as no one was expecting an entirely new form of Super Saiyan to appear so soon after Goku and Vegeta achieved the level of Super Saiyan Blue. As he transforms, Trunks essentially ‘rages out’ to the point where he can barely breathe or walk properly, smashing the ground with each and every footstep, closing in on his opponent with malicious intent before proclaiming, “I will kill you myself!!!“.

At the time, theories as to what this new form actually was spread like wildfire. To some, the mixture of yellow and blue auras signified that this was something between a regular Super Saiyan and a God Ki-infused Super Saiyan Blue. Others looked to Trunks’ hulking body language and whited out eyes, insisting that he had become the Legendary Super Saiyan. As it turns out, Trunks’ transformation represented something else entirely, and is now known as ‘Super Saiyan Rage’. It is not clear yet if all Saiyans can unlock this ‘Rage’ mode or just those who are half bloods – it may even be a unique ability possessed only by Trunks due to currently undefined circumstances. What we do know is that the form is extremely powerful, allowing Trunks to take on both Goku Black and Zamasu simultaneously. Like many aspects of the Goku Black /Zamasu saga, ‘Super Saiyan Rage’ appears to have been short-lived, and has not appeared in the show since.

3. Frost Vs Piccolo, A Battle of Wits

One thing which Dragon Ball Super does very well, which DBZ tended not to, is give us succinct battles which manage to be satisfying despite their fleeting screen time. While everyone loves a good four-hour long final showdown extravaganza (that’s not even an exaggeration – the finalé of Z‘s Namek saga featured Goku and Frieza battling it out for that length of time), sometimes bite sized match ups can be just as gratifying). One such duel was that of Piccolo and Frost in Episode 34.

On occasion, Dragon Ball fights can be reduced to power level comparisons, with the strongest warrior practically winning the bout by default. However, this was not the case when Piccolo stepped up to fight the much more powerful Frost in the ‘Universe 6’ martial arts tournament. Here, tactics trumped strength, and a battle of wits ensued, a refreshing change of pace from the shock and awe rushes which the Dragon Ball franchise is renowned for. While the considerably weaker Piccolo did lose out in the end, it was not a case where he was simply overpowered, but rather Frost took him out by means of a sly piece of trickery. This set a new precedent for the series which has been carried over into the Tournament of Power, where savvy fighters can upset the odds and topple much stronger combatants, making the show a whole lot more unpredictable.

2. Frieza’s Renewed Sadism

Arguably the most loved and hated of all Dragon Ball villains, Frieza reminded us all why he is so revered among the fandom when he returned to the land of the living in Super. He’s not the bad guy because he was built and programmed to kill Goku or because he is some sort of ancient universe-shattering malevolent being of prophecy. No, he’s just evil because he’s a selfish and unrepentant oppugner who gets off on inflicting misery in others. If anything, the time he spent in hell (he gets frequent-flyer miles at this point) only made him a whole lot worse. Some of Frieza’s more sadistic acts since being resurrected for Dragon Ball Super include kneecapping Tagoma for having the audacity to ask a legitimate question, torturing Gohan until he cried out for his father and blowing up an entire planet (along with 7 billion people) because he lost a fist fight (now THAT is how you throw a hissy fit!).

Perhaps Frieza’s most sadistic turn yet was in DBS Episode 95 where he mercilessly slaughtered a band of assassins (in fairness, they started it). Despite their attempts to flee and general helplessness, Frieza callously cuts each and every one of them down, laughing all the while. He even goes as far as to torture one of them to extract information, but then decides that it would be a whole lot more fun to kill him instead, before immediately trying to strike a deal which would see him sell out his entire universe (if you’re going to do treachery, you might as well go big). As he embarks upon this rampage, Frieza sums up the situation rather concisely; “That is who I am”.

1. Trunks Vs. Fused Zamasu

Episode 66 of Dragon Ball Super gave us not one, but two truly epic showdowns. After the thoroughly impressive slobberknocker between Vegito Blue and Fused Zamasu, it was Trunks’ turn to face down the mad God. This may in fact be the first and only case in Dragon Ball history where an inanimate object appears to become a Super Saiyan. As the battle begins, Trunks infuses his trusty sword with Super Saiyan energy, allowing him to deflect Fused Zamasu’s blows and even slice through the flesh of his immortal body. In the end, even a Super Saiyan sword can’t fully bring down such a powerful foe, so Trunks uses a variation of the Spirit Bomb technique to further galvanise the blade with the energy of everyone left on the planet. This does the trick, with Zamasu finding himself sliced and diced in the saga’s epic finalé.

You just remembered Episode 67, didn’t you? That was infuriating wasn’t it? Well, most Dragon Ball fans refuse to accept that the Future Trunks saga continued on after the perfect ending that Episode 66 gave us, so we would suggest that you do the same…

Oh look, Baseball!

Bonus: Baseball Episode

To end our Super Dragon Ball powered listicle, we felt it would be nice to go out on a fun note. While the ‘filler’ episodes that make up the time between the main Dragon Ball sagas have something of a bad reputation among the fandom, it cannot be denied that they give us the odd comedy gem, like when Goku and Piccolo were forced to learn to drive. Dragon Ball Super has been no exception in this regard, and the baseball themed episode stands out as one of the finest Dragon Ball parodies ever created.

Poor Yamcha…

Is there a specific Dragon Ball Super moment that you think deserves recognition on this list? Tell us about your favourite scenes in the comments section!

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About The Author

Sean is Geek Ireland's resident dinosaur enthusiast, having been fascinated by prehistory since a time before he could read, speak or stand in an upright position (he still struggles to do at least one of these things on a daily basis).
Known as one of the biggest dinosaur fans Ireland has ever produced, Sean has delivered talks on his favourite subject at many venues and events including the Irish Film Institute, the UCD Science Expression Festival, Tayto Park, Dublin Comic Con and even London's Comedy Store.

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RAID 2018 is a gaming event, by gamers, for gamers. Offering BYOC LAN tournaments, video game concerts, talks from industry professionals and much more, we're banking on this being the best

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RAID 2018 is a gaming event, by gamers, for gamers. Offering BYOC LAN tournaments, video game concerts, talks from industry professionals and much more, we’re banking on this being the best gaming event in Ireland during 2018!